Meet Packed.

The Track Meet Crew's New Compilation Is A Must-Grab.

Last Thursday night, during a party thrown in the upstairs portion of Lower Greenville's The Crown & Harp, the Dallas-based DJ collective known as Track Meet celebrated the release of Track Meet Compilation 02, an album that, at face value, is simply what its name says it is. Yes, the 15-track collection is the crew's second compilation — not just of its own songs, but of tracks from the minds of like-minded club- and juke-adoring producers from around the globe. (The first such album from the group, referred to as a mixtape upon its release back in March, can be found here.)

But whereas the group's initial compilation effort featured seven outside collaborators willing to donate tracks to the cause, this second go marks a major step up: A full 14 non-Track Meet-associated names join TM's AiR DJ (Oleg Belogorsky) and Ynfynyt Scroll (Rodrigo Diaz) in their efforts this time through. (Track Meet members Shooknite and Matte Blaque aren't represented.)

If nothing else, consider that an indicator that the Track Meet brand is growing, earning more and more respect outside of its hometown market as time goes by — as should be the case, really. Anyone paying even the most remote amount of attention to Dallas DJ culture in the last three or so years already knows: When it comes to intimate, wholly progressive — and yet somehow surprisingly digestible — experimental club music, the Track Meet crew is on a plane almost exclusively its own. Compilation cuts “Envidia” from Ynfynyt Scroll and “F Riddim” from AiR DJ more than capably show the group's flex in that regard. And the long-notorious, oft-raunchy blacklight/slimrave parties that Track Meet has hosted in various spots across North Texas in recent years — almost always with glowing (pun intended) success — certainly show its members' impressive, boundary-blasting capabilities in other realms.

Perhaps most remarkable about TMC02, though, is that it shows a Track Meet that knows its place. The group's own songs here neither overshadow nor are overshadowed by the other cuts included; instead, they all mesh, and impressively at that. That's as seemingly a surefire sign as any: Releasing a compilation like this isn't an exercise in vanity for Track Meet's sake; it's an attempt to showcase a scene that's growing vibrantly in other locations, too.

And Track Meet isn't just aware of what's happening in those other places. Thanks to Internet-fueled globalization, it's part of it. As a result, the compilation feels less like an introduction to this new, exciting club music market, and far more akin to a declaration that this movement is beyond worthy of listener attention.

Never is that more clear on the album than on collaborators Drippin and DJ New Jersey Drone's “EQUUS” track, which somehow manages to stand out as a cut above on a release otherwise filled with should-be standout efforts. Filled with absurd, trippy and endlessly alluring sonic blips, the song's as much a head-spinner as it is a should-be immediate club classic.

Point is, there's something special brewing here — on this album and within the worldwide scene it represents.

Give the compilation a listen in the above embed to get an immediate sense of this new benchmark being set, and click the “download” button to grab the whole thing at a rate you can determine all your own. Then make plans to head on out to Dada on Saturday (November 9) to catch Track Meet open for Big Freedia — an affair pretty much guaranteed to be a balls-to-the-wall good time, if not as good a place as any to introduce yourself to Track Meet's always-intriguing world.

Pete is the founder, editor and president of Central Track. He is the former music editor of the Dallas Observer. His work has been published in The Daily Beast, Deadspin, LA Weekly, Village Voice, Spin Magazine, The Miami Herald and The Toronto Star, among other major publications. The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has honored his long-form narrative writing and his blogging efforts alike. In 2008, NBCDFW.com named him one of the 25 Most Interesting People in DFW, a fact he remains all too eager to bring up at dinner parties.